It started a couple of months ago when Rick Reinhold contacted the Humane Society of San Antonio to see if they needed help with a Basenji they were trying to find a home. At the time, they said no thank you, and Rick said, well, just keep my number in case you change your mind. Last week, they did.
Rick called me and said he needed help with this dog, Banjo. He was flooded with dogs and didn't have an immediate home to put him in, so I agreed to pick up Banjo from the HSSA and bring him to my house for about a week until a longer term foster could be found. Luck would have it, and some creative rearrangements with dogs and homes, and Rick had a new foster that Banjo could go to in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. So I told him, I'll go get him, and turn around and drive Banjo to Dallas, where can I meet someone?
I left Austin at lunch time on Friday and drove to HSSA to pick up Banjo. While in the waiting room for his paper work to get sorted through and organized, I read their poster on the wall about the costs to rehome pets in the shelter.... sounded familiar; it sure does cost all organizations a lot more money to find a dog a home than they ever make in adoption fees....
As soon as Banjo came through the door, he leaped over to me and put his front feet on my lap, looked at me and wiggled and squirmed all over and wriggled his tight little honey bun tail about as fast as he could. What an awesome little basenji! Greetings were quick and he started for the outside door... "quick, let's go, let's go, I'm ready, I'm ready.... hey .... hellooooooo, what are you waiting for???? I've got things to do, places to sniff, you know?" he seemed to say.
Still a few files to look at and release forms to sign... then the shelter was very generous and gave us a nice airline crate for transporting Banjo, and then we were out the door! We ran across the parking lot and to the shade.
Ahh, grass to pee on and sniff... and about 105 degrees.... we headed for the car to load up his crate, then spent time around the lawn and bushes to get a little more exercise and complete any possible "unfinished business."
I offered Banjo some treats and called Rick, "Hey Rick, I've got Banjo, we're outside, I'm waiting for him to poop, he sure looks like he needs to poop. What an AWESOME dog. He's way cool and very small for a boy, 20 lbs at best. They say he's almost 4 yrs old. I wonder, he's so small and active and playful. What a great little guy! It'll take me about 3-4 hours to drive to Hillsboro."
Rick replies, "Ok, so did they give you a crate? Does he have a collar? Did he get his rabies' shot?"
"Yes, Yes, Yes," I reply.
"Well, I better hop in the car, it'll take me about 3 hrs to drive to Hillsboro. I'll call you again when I'm about 30 minutes from there and see where you are and we'll figure out a place to stop and meet.
Ok, Banjo, time to go, did you hear that? He's more than happy to oblige and has no problem with me picking him up and putting him in his new crate for the ride. It sure was hot! Time to get in and crank up the AC and hit the road.
We head out of San Antonio, hitting late afternoon traffic at the I-410 to I-35 merger. Lots of trucks on I-35... we slow down, speed up, slow down, creeping north and things clear up as I get on the toll road to by pass Austin downtown traffic, which is already glowing bright red on my phone's traffic map.
Banjo was a fantastic passenger. He sat quietly in his crate, getting up now and again to look out the window and rearrange himself. I purposefully kept the AC colder than usual as it helps dogs stay calmer and quieter on the ride, and Banjo is no different, until I start talking to him. "Hey Banjo? How are you doing back there?" I get an earful of a response, "arrrr, rar, rar, rahhhh. Ahhhh roooo, woo, woo, arrr, arrr."
He settles back down and I keep cruising until we get to Temple, TX, where I stop for gas and take him out for a potty break. It's about 4:30-5:00pm. While stopped, Rick calls, "Where are you? Temple? How far is that from Hillsboro? I'm about 5 minutes outside of town. What exit are you at?"
"Ummm, I don't know how far I'm from Hillsboro, probably another hour. I'm at Exit 299, no 300."
Rick answers, "Ok, I'll keep driving another 25-30 minutes and call you again and we should be getting close to each other."
"Sounds good," I hang up the phone, get Banjo back in his crate and hit the road again along with a gadzillion trucks going about 25 miles and hour. 30 minutes later, Rick again, "Ok, I'm at exit 346, where are you?" I reply, "Exit 322." Rick says, "I'm going to fill up here and then drive to Exit 339-338 and we should be just about at the same place."
I keep driving, Exit 333, Exit 335A, 335B, 335C! I'm coming up on 337 and tell myself I'm getting off at 338, and Rick calls, "I'm at Exit 339 at a Burger King parking lot, take the exit and U-turn under I-35 and I'm right there. I've got Basenji stickers all over my car, you can't miss me." (He wasn't kidding!)
We find Rick, no problem, get Banjo out of my truck and let him walk around. He's very happy to be out and wants to go, go, go, he pulls on his leash and tries to sniff a stick, but it's not the best area to walk around, some grass, but busy traffic wise. He gets a drink. Rick and I look at some of his paper work. The last person that tried to adopt Banjo returned him because he was "destructive" and "didn't mind me" and "wouldn't come when I called" he would "nip and growl if I tried to get him off the bed." Rick and I just laughed, naughty dog? No, he's Just a Basenji. "Ok, we'll find this little guy a great home. What a great dog, huh, Rick?" I ask him. He really is just the nicest little petite male.
We get him into Rick's truck. Pull out the airline crate and put it in the bed of Rick's truck. Say a quick farewell and go our separate ways. I pull over to get some iced coffee (it's still about 105-107 degrees) and then head back to Austin. I get back 8 hrs after I left. An 8 hrs well-spent on a cool little dog, but just the beginning of Banjo's final journey to finding a new home.
Rick wrote me today and sent photos and a short movie. He wrote, "Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww...what a dog !!!! If my male would have accepted him, I would adopt him. This little boy is great. Loves to play..."
Looking for a FANTASTIC male Basenji, with energy, playfulness and enthusiasm? Banjo's your boy!
